All Questions

I intend to simulate gravitational acceleration on a 2D plane (simplified, no gravitational constant). My code is interpreted without any error in the console, but instead of having the two circles ...

I have the coordinates of a celestial body w.r.t. Sun , expressed as (x,y,z), at a given time. I need to move this coordinates into a reference frame centered on Earth center, but after reading dozens ...

According to this source, pages 378-382 and 406, there were no launch suits for Shuttle missions STS-5 through STS-33. Instead, crew literally wore shirtsleeves during launch and re-entry, plus anti-...

A highlight of any Rocket Lab Electron launch is second stage ignition, seen from an impressive angle in this video from Flight 16: Notably ignition seems ...

In all expander cycles, fuel is used as the working fluid to generate the pressure difference necessary to drive the pumps. This makes sense in a closed expander cycle as it'll eventually be used in ...

I've always assumed that the expansion ratio of an engine equaled the pressure inside the engine over the atmospheric pressure, but I'm not sure this is right, could someone check me on this?

How many spacecraft have been sent in a heliocentric orbit in all history? By this, I mean spacecraft sent to stay in heliocentric orbit. The satellites orbiting planets or moons don't count.

I don't have one of course, but I see that the Starlink ground transceiver antennas are flat but "pointable" to some extent. I assume but don't know for sure that there's at least some kind ...

This looks like this answer because that's where I found this. Ars Technica's SpaceX Starlink engineers take questions in Reddit AMA—here are highlights included a reader poll when I viewed it, screen ...

This looks like this answer because that's where I found this. Celestrak offers a copy of a Satcat from which a tabulation of space objects can be gleaned: https://celestrak.com/satcat/search.php ...

USA got some 400 kg of Moon rocks with Apollo program. Did they share rocks with other countries in form of permanent gifts? If yes, then which countries got such gift, and what information about ...

What will happen to the Chang’e 5 orbiter which will return the collected samples to earth? Will it burn up in the atmosphere like Hayabusa, or is an extented mission planned?

If I spacecraft was leaving Callisto to return to Earth, would there by any situation where it would use a gravity assist from Jupiter to increase its velocity?

It is a well-known fact that when meteorite hits surface of the Moon, a part of debris can end up on Earth because the escape velocity for Moon is low - 2.38km/s. A similar effect can be achieved by ...

The question What kinds of things have been tossed out of the ISS? contains a now-rotted link to a YouTube video of a steel ball being thrown from the ISS for radar tracking tests. I'd sourced it from ...

This Astronomy online course page The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence contains the following, about half-way down: However, in recent years, human engineers have learned how to make flashes ...

Working on a project of sorts and I can't wrap my head around this at all., have a question regarding leaving the ISS orbit. If, let us say as an example, an astronaut jumped out of a capsule which ...

We are searching for extraterrestrial communications from other solar systems, and some consider sending them as well. Are there studies attempting to identify which wavelengths are best suited for ...

A flame trench is a massive expensive thing that needs constant repair. After each launch, concrete and steel suffer cracks, chips, melting etc., and require expensive, time consuming repair. Would it ...

I understand that they have an interesting method of using microwaves to produce plasma from water. They claim to have a "high" thrust and "high" specific impulse. Their Isp ...

The SETI project is trying to detect radio transmissions of aliens. Assuming the ET have their own SETI using very similar technology to ours, are we sending data for them to receive? If we are not ...

Let's assume we already colonised Alpha Centauri. What kind of technology we need in order to send and receive 1kbps? Radio satellite orbiting the sun? How much power, antenna size and solar panel ...

Roughly how fast would Falcon 9 accelerate, and what would its payload's final speed be, if mounted horizontally on an ideal cart? Make simplifying assumptions as needed: massless frictionless cart, ...

In sci-fi movies, like Independence Day, we find one big mothership flanked by many small droneships. Take-off and landing giant spaceship is technically difficult and dangerous. The landing surface ...

Say an astronaut had some sort of psychotic break during a spacewalk, is there any mechanism or failsafe that would prevent the astronaut from opening their helmet and exposing themself to the vacuum ...

I've been looking for a new hobby, and have been reading some about satellite tracking. I was wondering if there was a good tutorial that walks through how to use TLE data. So far I have found ...

Some space launches are made from Florida, some from Texas, some from California and so on. Which US states and territories had the most orbital space launches in all space history? I mean launches ...

As the title says, is it known how big, or massive, hayabusa2's sample is, due for Earth touchdown on 6th December? I have tried some basic internet research but found nothing on the anticipated ...

I am trying to estimate battery weights for electric pump fed rockets of various sizes and wanted to use the electron rocket as data to validate my calculations. However I was unable to find the mass ...

The GMAT examples demonstrate targeting using this method for targeting a specific Apoapsis increase maneuver: Vary the prograde speed Apply Maneuver Propagate to the Apoapsis Achieve "the ...

I remember when I was younger I had heard this story about the Chinese using primitive fireworks, and even strapping them to a bamboo glider in an attempt to reach the moon. This story probably isn't ...

Hydro/lox is an excellent fuel choice and has been used in many engine/rockets with high ISP requirements, however, the two biggest drawbacks of the propellant are its density and boil-off. Could this ...

Wikipedia's Two-Line Element Set entry for line 1, column 63 (1.12) says: Ephemeris type (internal use only - always zero in distributed TLE data)13 13Celestrak Frequently Asked Questions: Two-Line ...

I was under the assumption that, in contrast to the oft-repeated "oh, those Russians", Protons actually do have launch termination systems which can be used to destroy the vehicle, akin to ...

My grandfather who was involved with the DFVLR (now DLR) had all sorts of space-memorabilia in his basement, including a roll of pictures I've found. Does anyone know what mission they are from and ...

What is the Starship forward dome? How does it look like? What other parts are connected to it and what is it good for?

The first drawing—roughly passable* by modern standards—which Ī̲ am able to find is this pic from 1834 attributed to Henry De la Beche Image links to: https://www.abroadintheyard.com/timeline-of-...

In Are pictures taken from ISS geolocalized? I was considering photos taken on the Moon by astronauts. How can I determine a photographer's position and lens direction? And further, since there isn't ...

I'm looking for an expression for r. The difficulty I'm facing is simplifying the C-W equation

If we had a tidally stabilised skyhook (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tether#/media/File:Skyhooks.gif) with electric charge and with a vector of force aiming towards the center of the Earth, ...

In this comment below Will future deep space optical communications “ground stations” actually be in space, or on the ground? in response to a discussion about ground stations being used for tracking ...

Based on this question, it looks like KSC has not only its own police department (which is fairly common for large facilities, even things like universities) but also a SWAT team, which apparently was ...

What is the use of the Gonets satelites? Is ir for consumers, satellite phone or for govt institutions?

Assuming I was looking for arrival opportunities from 2020 to 2030, how can I calculate the possible arrival dates to Mercury given a departure date from a gravity assist from Venus?

I'm sure all of you have heard about the recent events at the Arecibo observatory, and the controversial decision to close the facility. I've also heard that Arecibo is the second largest single ...

Spacecraft A and B are in coplanar circular orbits around the Earth. The orbital radii are as shown in the figure. (Not looking to use C-W equation. Just the equation describing relative velocity ...

The following picture shows various spacecraft design proposals for the 1958 U.S. Air Force Man In Space Soonest program: The bottom row depicts various spaceplanes, which should not be a surprise ...

I guess my question is "naive". I get from https://images-api.nasa.gov some pictures of Earth from ISS without any description (just the mission number) or pictures of crewmembers. Taken ...

SpaceX has a launch site in Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Will satellites launched from that place have a retrograde orbit?

I'm reading all kinds of things about mining water from the Permanently Shadowed Regions of the moon -- the bottoms of craters near the poles -- and I'm thinking Um, guys? It's 30 degrees Kelvin down ...